


Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Dodge City, KS
Issued by NWS Dodge City, KS
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336 FXUS63 KDDC 121022 AFDDDC Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Dodge City KS 522 AM CDT Wed Mar 12 2025 .KEY MESSAGES... - A Fire Weather Watch is now in effect for areas west of a Wakeeney to Garden City to Liberal line for Thursday. - Very windy conditions will develop by late Friday across portions of southwest Kansas. There is a 50-60% chance for wind gusts in excess of 45 mph on Friday afternoon behind a cold front. - We will monitoring the potential for near critical to critical fire risk on Saturday. && .DISCUSSION... Issued at 217 AM CDT Wed Mar 12 2025 Winds be light and variable this morning with northeast winds expected in the afternoon. High level cloudiness will decrease in coverage this morning with mostly clear skies by this afternoon. Additional high level clouds will move back into the area tonight. Highs today look to reach into the low 70s with lows tonight in the 30s with low 40s across south central Kansas. The next storm system will move through the western United States Thursday, into the Rockies Thursday night, and through the Plains Friday. Skies will be mostly clear through Thursday night with dry conditions. Winds will shift to the southwest as this system approaches and increase in speed Thursday. RHs Thursday look to dip into the teens and with the combination of strong winds fire weather risk will become elevated to significant. As of now a Fire Weather Watch is in effect for Thursday afternoon. The system then moves through the area Friday with a cold front passage in the afternoon. This will shift winds to the north with continued strong winds. The current NBM run shows probabilities of exceeding 50 mph Friday afternoon ranging from around 20 percent west of Highway 283 to around 60 percent along the KS/CO border. It also shows around a 30 percent chance of exceeding 58 mph along the KS/CO border with less than 10 to 20 percent west of highway 283. In addition to the winds, wrap around clouds and showers will be possible Friday afternoon then confined to northern Kansas Friday night. However, little accumulation is expected at this time. Breezy northerly winds continue Saturday with another chance of increased fire danger. Wind speeds then decrease for the remainder of the forecast. We also head back into a dry pattern Saturday on as an upper level ridge builds over the Plains with high pressure being the dominate feature at the surface. As for temperatures, highs look to reaching into the mid to upper 70s Thursday with the NBM showing a 15 to 60 percent chance of exceeding 80 degrees in some places. We then cool down Friday due to the next system with highs ranging from around 60 degrees along the KS/CO border with upper 60s to around 70 degrees across central Kansas. Cooler weather continues Saturday with highs in the 50s with a gradual warm up for the rest of the forecast with highs in the 60s Sunday and 70s Monday. && .AVIATION /12Z TAFS THROUGH 12Z THURSDAY/... Issued at 521 AM CDT Wed Mar 12 2025 VFR conditions will prevail with a few high level clouds. Winds will be light and variable early this morning, shifting to the northeast late morning into this afternoon at less than 10 knots. && .FIRE WEATHER... Issued at 217 AM CDT Wed Mar 12 2025 The potential for critical fire weather conditions can be expected Thursday across portions of southwest Kansas. Gusty south southwest winds will develop during the day in response to falling surface pressures along the lee of the Rockies as a deepening upper level jet begins to approach the Central Rockies. As a result a Fire Weather Watch is in effect for these locations. && .DDC WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... Red Flag Warning from 1 PM CDT /noon MDT/ to 10 PM CDT /9 PM MDT/ Thursday for KSZ030-043-044-061>063-074>076-084>086. && $$ DISCUSSION...Hovorka_42 AVIATION...Hovorka_42 FIRE WEATHER...Hovorka_42